| Kate originally joined the firm in 1988 and returned to
the firm in 1998 after practising in a labour law firm from 1993 -
1998 in British Columbia. Kate’s practice covers a wide range of
areas including labour arbitration, labour board matters, court
injunctions, civil litigation, professional discipline, education law,
inquests and human rights.
Kate has successfully argued two leading Supreme Court of
Canada cases. She was counsel for the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF),
the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), and the Disabled Women’s Network (DAWN) in Meiorin
(also known as the "firefighter" case), the ground-breaking human rights
case dealing with employment standards set by employers and the duty to accommodate that
established a new test for discrimination in Canada. In the BMWE v. Canadian Pacific
case, she established the right of a trade union to obtain a court injunction against an
employer for violating the collective agreement where the arbitrator had no substantive
interim relief powers.
Kate is active in the health law field and was
appointed by the British Columbia Ministry of Health to the Board which set up the first
College of Midwives. Previously, she had authored Midwifery Legal Issues and A History
of Midwifery for the 1987 Task Force on the Implementation of Midwifery in Ontario.
Kate is a frequent speaker and author of articles
on a variety of labour issues including harassment in the workplace, discrimination and
professional discipline and the duty of fair representation. She recently co-authored a
paper A New Approach to Workplace Discrimination/Une nouvelle approche à la
discrimination on the Meiorin decision.
Prior to her joining the firm in 1988, Kate was
with the feminist labour law firm, Symes Kiteley & McIntyre from 1985 to 1987.
Kate is a past Vice-President of the Canadian
Association of Labour Lawyers and is active with the Women’s Legal Education and
Action Fund. |
